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Coverage of the 2012 McCall Motorworks Jet Center party: Monterey Car Week kicks off with a gathering of select autos and airplanes

August 16, 2012

1 of 33Horseshoe grille, knurled radiator cap.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

2 of 33I'm an all-set Cobra Jet creepin' through the nighttime.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

3 of 33Lamborghini hauled out the more-carbon-isn't-enough Sesto Elemento.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

4 of 33The red and the black.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

5 of 33The new Lamborghini Urus SUV made an appearance.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

6 of 33Fancy dude unwraps the Pagani Huyara.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

7 of 33Huayra? Why not?

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

8 of 33Illuminating Daytona clone.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

9 of 33Gran Turismo, 40 inches tall.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

10 of 33We would like a Ferrari 330 GTS in the worst way possible.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

11 of 33This Lamborghini model is clearly interested in your spiel.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

12 of 33The Porsche 904 is a glorious beast. It was Butzi's favorite, too.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

13 of 33Make our Pagoda a burnt-orange Pagoda.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

14 of 33The C2 is still the most beautiful 'Vette. Don't argue.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

15 of 33A Local Motors Rally Fighter showed up driven by a flamboyant European couple. Of course?

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

16 of 33Cobraic goodness arrives as part of the Quail Rally group.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

17 of 33The more Ace-like the Cobra, the more beautiful the Cobra.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

18 of 33Kirk Hammett's 1936 Ford. Built by the Monterey Peninsula's own Cole Foster.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

19 of 33Koenigsegg Agera R. Arrr.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

20 of 33The Ultimat Vodka people were serving up foofy concoctions for the hoity-toity.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

21 of 33There is absolutely nothing wrong with an orange BMW M1. In fact, there is everything right with it.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

22 of 33Gordon McCall addresses the monied masses.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

23 of 33Susan Foster can't get enough of the GT40.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

24 of 33Ochre Roller.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

25 of 33An E-Type is always in impeccable taste.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

26 of 33Braunelfer!

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

27 of 33It wouldn't be a proper scene without a P-51 on hand.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

28 of 33The P-51D wasn't the only Mustang on display.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

29 of 33Morgan Three-Wheeler, Grumman Duck.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

30 of 33Tiger wants you for a Sunbeam.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

31 of 33A Type 2 from the glory days.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

32 of 33Nobody wants to be on the wrong end of a Mitchell. Except, perhaps, Stringfellow Hawke.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

33 of 33A four-place Bugatti Type 38.

Photo by Davey G. Johnson

For the 21st year, Gordon McCall invited scene makers, tastemakers, taste testers and folks with deep pockets to the Monterey Jet Center to kick off the peninsula's automotive bacchanal.

Held on Wednesday, Aug. 15, classics from Bugatti's Ettore and Jean era were on hand, as were mid-engined midcentury marvels like the Porsche 904 and Ford GT40.

The vaunted Bernardus operation served up the food and wine, Breitling employed a very nice Germanic man in a lab coat assembling timepieces, and makers of expensive cars rolled out their latest models for the moneyed attendees.

Lamborghini had the extra-duper-lightweight Sesto Elemento on display, as well as the Urus SUV—which actually looks better in person than it does in photos.

Salinas, Calif., car and bike builder Cole Foster stopped by with Kirk Hammett's 1936 Ford, a masterwork that splits the difference between rod, custom, Figoni et Falaschi. It was dwarfed by Fatty Arbuckle's royal purple Pierce-Arrow, a behemoth that truly has to be experienced in person to be understood. Admittedly, we're still not quite sure if we understand it.

The Quail rally rumbled in before the sun went down, a motley cavalcade of expensive esoterica including a Ferrari 275 GTB/4, a lovely bronze C2 Vette and a Pagoda roof Mercedes-Benz SL in a fabulous burnt orange. Of course, it was fabulous. It's the Jet Center--less than fabulous would be staggeringly poor form, old chum!

Beyond the pricey-to-priceless collection of automobiles, a smattering of planes was scattered across the tarmac. While business jets predominated, we were treated to a P-51 Mustang, a B-25 Mitchell, a Grumman Duck seaplane and a Morgan 3 Wheeler, which may as well be an interwar-period pursuit plane of some sort.

Stuffed with couscous salad, fine meats, sushi and perhaps a bit tippled from the vast quantities of wine being poured, the crowd filtered out after dark, appetites whetted for the days to come.